Editor of the Newscenta newspaper, Elvis Darko, has accused the government of deliberately ignoring the concerns of nurses and midwives in the 2025 national budget, despite being fully aware of their demands months before the budget presentation.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Thursday, June 12, Darko questioned the government’s commitment to resolving the ongoing strike by members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA). The strike was triggered by the government’s failure to implement new conditions of service agreed upon with the association.

“The government should stop making the excuse that the nurses’ conditions of service are not captured in the budget,” Darko said. “Why are they not in the budget? The nurses began engaging the government in January, and the budget was presented by Ato Forson on March 11. That means government had ample time to include their demands. If it wasn’t added, then it was a deliberate decision.”

Darko argued that the government’s omission was not an oversight but a calculated choice, despite the early engagement from the GRNMA. He added that the repeated justification that the conditions are not in the budget only adds fuel to the fire and frustrates healthcare workers even more.

The government, however, has maintained that it cannot meet the demands of the nurses and midwives due to fiscal constraints. According to Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the full implementation of the proposed conditions of service would cost the state over GHS2 billion—an amount he says could jeopardize Ghana’s fragile economic recovery.

Despite this, Darko insists that the timeline of events makes the government’s excuse unconvincing.

“The claim that their demands are not budgeted for is not a valid excuse,” he emphasized. “The government was informed in advance. Continuing to use that line will only aggravate the situation.”

The standoff between the government and the GRNMA has led to nationwide disruption in healthcare delivery, as nurses and midwives continue their industrial action to press home their demands.